Neville Kidd: Memorial a betrayal of Anzacs, says historian

THE commemoration of today's 91st anniversary of Australia's worst 24-hour battle has been described as a sham by the historian Neville Kidd. He says the name of the battle, Fromelles, is not even on the Anzac Memorial where the ceremony is taking place at Hyde Park.

"It is a travesty to the memory of nearly 2000 soldiers killed at Fromelles," said Mr Kidd, of Pymble, whose father fought on the Western Front.

He said it was "such a disgrace that the NSW Government is not prepared to add the name of our worst battle where so many Australians were slaughtered by a top German force" - which included the 27-year-old Lance Corporal Adolf Hitler.

Mr Kidd is the author of a book about the battle that took place on July 19, 1916. Australia suffered 5533 casualties in 24 hours including 1917 killed.

"Waves of soldiers mown down by machine-guns have been betrayed by bureaucrats who can't be bothered making a simple change to the memorial," he said.